Page 25 - Industrial Technology October/ November 2020 issue

MACHINE BUILDING

How to reduce cabinet

clutter in food production

AUTOMATION

FOOD MANUFACTURERS CAN ACHIEVE FLEXIBLE PRODUCTION AT MINIMAL LABOUR COSTS, BY ADOPTING
AUTOMATION WITHOUT CABINETS. STEPHEN HAYES, MANAGING DIRECTOR OF BECKHOFF AUTOMATION
UK, EXPLAINS HOW FOOD PROCESSING OPERATIONS CAN BE RECONFIGURED WITH MACHINES THAT CAN
BE TRANSPORTED AND MOVED, MORE EASILY AND FASTER THAN TRADITIONAL MACHINERY

n April 2019, ING Bank’s economics department
published its report on technology in the food
industry, which discussed how technology helps food
Imanufacturers produce more efficiently for a growing
world population. Improving shelf life and food safety
revolves around technology, and greater use of machines
and software ensures affordability and consistent quality.
The report explains that “the number of robots in the
European food industry is well over 30,000, while the
number of robots per 10,000 employees rose from 62 in
2013 to 84 in 2017. Although Germany is the largest
market, robot density is highest in Sweden, Denmark, the
Netherlands and Italy.
From controlling people and machines to fully
automated production lines with remote control and
monitoring, food production is increasingly in the hands of
data analysts and robots. Using robots makes the
production process more stable with higher production
volume and improved food safety, and less labour-
intensive with lower personnel costs.
Robots are increasingly used to cut, move, package,
and palletise products, for example. Data technology
increases predictability and artificial intelligence
contributes towards the streamlined use of production
lines. Connected machines mean that processes can be
increasingly inspected and controlled remotely.
Food production is changing and adapting with respect
to seasonal demand changes, and the growing trend for
shorter-run food batches to tie in with promotions or
consumer trends. Consumer demand for personalised food
products is booming, with brands like Veuve Clicquot,
Marmite, Cadbury’s, Johnnie Walker, Green & Black’s, and
Quality Street, all weighing in with various offers.
These trends will encourage food manufacturers to be
nimbler on their feet, and to frequently reconfigure
processing lines accordingly. EtherCAT P allows for
automation systems to be more transportable as a result EtherCAT (Ethernet for control automation technology), 69K protection are designed to withstand cleaning
of reduced wiring and cabling requirements. It is the the real-time Ethernet technology from Beckhoff, sets new procedures that are common in food and beverage
backbone of Beckhoff’s automation without cabinets standards where conventional fieldbus systems reach their applications.
concept. limits, boasting 1,000 distributed I/O points responding An Australian food manufacturer for example,
For example, reduced machine footprint and within 30 µs, almost unlimited network size, and previously needed three conventional feed lines, with their
installation space is a key features of the AMP8000 optimum vertical integration thanks to Ethernet and corresponding costs and space requirements. With an
distributed Servo Drive system, which integrates the servo internet technologies. EtherCAT controller, the 21 servo axes distributed
drive directly into the servomotor. By relocating the power With EtherCAT, the costly Ethernet star topology can throughout the entire factory are now controlled by just
electronics directly into the machine, the space be replaced with a simple line or tree structure, without one powerful computer. Information is exchanged over the
requirements within the control cabinet are reduced to a expensive infrastructure components being required. All network so that no ‘spaghetti cabling’ is created and
single coupling module that can supply multiple servo- types of Ethernet devices can be integrated via a switch the system can be designed very simply.
drives from just one cable via a distribution module. or switch port. Beckhoff EtherCAT I/O modules with IP MORE INFORMATION: www.beckhoff.co.uk

October/November 2020 • INDUSTRIAL TECHNOLOGY 25